The Bradford Witness was the local newspaper. It was first published on February 20, 1879 by Mr. E. Garrett. He was born in Hampshire, England, but settled in Bradford with his parents when he was only one year old in 1856. Before starting The Witness, he worked for Mr. Broughton who published the South Simcoe News, another Bradford newspaper. The fire of 1892 destroyed the offices of The Witness, and the two papers amalgamated, with E. Garrett as proprietor.
Located on Holland St. at the corner of Barrie St. This building was originally a hotel (Central Hotel, Uneeda Hotel and in 1900 the H. Hulse Hotel). In 1951 the bank was held up by the Boyd Gang which had robbed a number of banks in the Toronto area and Montreal. The robbery resulted in a shootout with Bradford police. There is a bullet lodged in the building across the street from the bank which was the police station at that time. Today this building is the CIBC bank.
The United Church is located on Barrie Street. This church was built around 1865 and uses the Gothic style of architecture. It is the oldest surviving church in town. This building may have been designed by John Howard, a famous architect in Toronto who designed churches and public buildings resembling this one. The Sunday School room at the back of the present church was the first church built in 1836. Originally this was a Methodist Church.
"This is the location of the new Bank of Commerce the way it looked in 1915. At this time the bank was named Standard Bank and was located a bit further west. Around 1920, the bank branch moved to the corner of Barrie and Holland Streets. The buildings in the picture are a laundry and the post office."
"If CN has its way, the last real contact Bradford has with the railway will be gone soon when the train station is either sold or torn down. The railway was an integral part of the community when this photo was taken in 1939. Submitted by Wilbert Mulliss of Bradford, it shows Percy Stephenson, an express clerk at CN who delivered parcels to and from the train station and the post office. Stephenson, who was Mulliss' uncle, posed for this hot on Barrie Street with John Street West in the background. The old Model 'A' truck was owned by CN, and Stephenson worked for CN's agent in town, George Green, an insurance agent and former town clerk."
"Demolition of the old convent on Barrie Street was scheduled to begin this week. The site, north of Frederick Street, will be the home of a new multi-service facility. When it's done in March 1995, it will be 15,000 square feet in size and will accommodate a child-care facility for 150 children. Bill Bowden, property manager for the Barrie and District Association for People with Special Needs and project manager for the new building, indicated the old convent has been totally trashed and nothing remains of any salvageable value. And as yet, there's no official name. "The Common Roof was the local name for the group attempting to get this project under way. It sort of stuck, I doubt if that will be the final, official name of the building," he said. Bowden said the new structure will house a number of agencies providing child-care services such as a daycare, a nursery, PALS resource centre and a number of other social service agencies for the child and family in the Bradford area. The new building will cost in the neighbourhood of $1.5 million. Bowden said the centre will "service in the neighborhood of 150 children each day. Children will be coming and going. Some will be there all day. Some will be there only in the morning and some only in the afternoon." The demolition work marks the end of a lengthy process. The Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association is working with the architect for the new building to include part of the old convent building in the new structure.
